Airport access

Qatar Airways has supplied free internet access at passenger lounges at Doha International Airport. The hot spots allow travelers with Wi-Fi equipped laptops and other devices to wirelessly access the internet.

Qatar Airways has launched wireless internet access at Doha International Airport. The service allows passengers to browse the internet through personal laptops without connecting to a phone line. The free of charge service is available in the first class and business class lounges, in addition to the Oryx lounge at Doha International Airport. This service is also available for economy passengers who are using Al Maha ‘Meet and Assist’ services. Additionally wireless modem cards are available through Al Maha services for customers with non Wi-Fi equipped laptops. “This service is part of our continuous effort to enhance our services provided to passengers travelling through Doha International Airport on board Qatar Airways and other airlines,” says Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways. “This service is going to prove to be very useful for business travellers, and will help them in following up their affairs while waiting in the lounge. It might also provide a recreation for other travellers who want to browse the net,” he adds. The new service to Doha International Airport coincides with the construction work which has started on the New Doha International Airport (NDIA), the first airport in the world to be designed and built specifically to accommodate the four-engined A380. The new Doha International Airport is scheduled to open in 2009 at a cost of US$2.5 bilion in the first phase and will initially be capable of handling 12 million passengers a year. Once fully developed in 2015 at a cost of US$5.5 billion, the airport is expected to handle up to 50 million passengers a year. One of the project’s key features is that 40% of the site will be built on reclaimed land from the Persian Gulf. US engineering and construction giant Bechtel has been awarded the main contract to build the new airport, which will initially have a 26-gate passenger terminal complex, two runways of 4,850m and 4,250m in length, maintenance hangar, cargo centre and extensive shopping facilities. By 2015 when the airport will be fully operational, the new airport will have 80 aircraft gates.